For the 16th month in a row, the registration of new vans has gone up here in the UK according to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This will no doubt come as pleasing news to quite a lot of people including some owners of courier service businesses.

In the month of April 2024, in the all vans to 3.5 tonnes category there were 23,889 new vans sold compared to 22,665 for the month of April 2023. That is a reasonable increase of 5.4%. The biggest % category rise was in the vans up to 2 tonnes with a jump of 41.1%. However, the 4 x 4s category saw a drop of 17.6%.

On a year to date basis to April 2024, in the all vans to 3.5 tonnes category there was an increase of 8.0% when compared with the same period in 2023 with 118,701 new vans being registered on a year to date basis to April 2024 compared to 109,937 for the same period in 2023. Interestingly, the biggest category increase in % terms was 4 x 4s with a rise of 28.9%.

The most popular category of new LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle) sold for both the above periods was vans in the 2.5 tonnes to 3.5 tonnes category.

A very disappointing figure was for that of the sale of new Battery Electric Vans (BEVs). In April 2024 there were 861 sold compared to 1,494 in April 2023 – a huge drop of 42.4%. Market share for the month of April fell from 6.5% in 2023 to 3.6% in 2024. On a year to date basis to April 2024, the number of new BEVs amounted to 5,800 whereas for the same period in 2023 the figure was 5,987. So, this was a fall of 3.1%. Market share on a year to date basis to April 2024 was 4.9% compared to 5.4% for the same period in 2023 – a worrying reduction.

The top 5 selling new vans in the UK on a year to date basis to April 2024 were: –

1. Ford Transit Custom 13,996
2. Ford Transit 10,748
3. Ford Ranger 6,522
4. Vauxhall Vivaro 6,423
5. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 6,060

We do hope that you found the above figures relating to the sale of new vans in the UK to be of interest. We will continue to keep our readers updated.